Investment Companies Going Big on Digital Currencies

Digital currencies are all the hype these days. With Bitcoin surging upwards and many new cryptocurrencies emerging, that is all anyone talks about. Blockchain offers a lot of solutions which were previously not possible. This is particularly true for industries such as banking, insurance, cyber security, transport, healthcare and real estate. Blockchain provides a platform that is meant to be traceable, secure and transparent. The framework has security built in such a fashion that if anybody tries to alter the records, the system immediately rejects them.

The biggest application of Blockchain might just have to be for governments to keep track of all their assets and making predictions of future trends. The platform uses distributed ledger technology which is free of fraud and is completely transparent. We can even hope to see Blockchain being used for voters in future elections.

Many celebrities have also turned their attention towards these currencies and invested heavily. It was only a matter of time that investment companies would jump in to get a part of the action. Fidelity Investments (USA) is one such example. Abigail Johnson went public with the information that Fidelity has been mining cryptocurrencies for the past 3 years as a form of experiment. The whole purpose of the exercise was not to make money but to further understand the possibilities of the platform and its application.

Fidelity investments are the first to speak about these kinds of operations publicly, although many other firms and banks are experimenting with this technology internally. Abigail Johnson claims that Fidelity set up a small classroom mining project alongside some universities which started generating a lot of money. The soaring prices of both Bitcoin and Ethereum boosted their wealth with a period of months. Johnson has been reported to mine more than 200,000 satoshis, which are smaller denominations of Bitcoins.

Fidelity has been using their own computers for this relatively small scale venture whereas most large scale mining is being done by Chinese companies, with high tech computers and low cost overheads. All cryptocurrencies combined together are worth more than $100 billion dollars.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a hoax just last month and considered it to be the next bubble that will eventually burst. In other news, the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs the Lloyd Blankfein spoke to the media claiming he was still not sure about Bitcoin. On the other hand, CEO of Morgan Stanley, James Gorman stated that and I quote, “Cryptocurrencies are certainly something more than just a fad”.

No matter which side of the argument you choose to support, you have to admit that this unprecedented technology has taken the world by storm. It will take some time for people to really understand the true potential and benefits. Blockchain is directly and indirectly creating a lot of jobs for future leaders and entrepreneurs as well. Tech giants like IBM have already hired 1500 people for this space alone.

China has been very unforgiving to cryptocurrency to the extent that the crypto-world has moved on without its support. The ban on ICOs and crypto-exchanges in China has stagnated the market in China further. If […]

The world of cryptocurrencies is something that is still in its infant stage with a lot of ongoing developments. While cryptocurrencies are making a significant impact on the world and all its financial systems, having […]